Manufacturing in Michigan getting boost from House Rep. Haley Stevens

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Manufacturing in Michigan just got a boost from the feds after Rep. Haley Stevens helped pass legislation that will help people pick up the skills they need to land a job.

That legislation helps facilities like Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, or LIFT, and Advanced Composites Manufacturing in Corktown. It has two main goals -- research and product development. That means teaching manufacturing to teachers, students and help build a base so that the next generation of manufacturers come from places like this.

"It's amazing to have the universities at the table, along with the companies, and the federal government is doing their role in setting the table," Stevens said.

The American Manufacturing Leadership Act will help make sure that there are places like LIFT for students to learn to keep Michigan at the forefront of making things.

"Our region is so ripe with apprenticeship training programs. I was just over at Oakland Community College, Oakland Technical School that's located up in Milford, I mean these are some of the things that some regions would fight tooth or nail. and we've got those assets here," Stevens said.

The bill she passed boosts funding for programs like this, helping spark more than just interest but connections. The bill that Stevens put together doesn't just help Michigan but the country to grow U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing. Michigan leads the way.

"The reach, I just looked, 160,000 students have connected into their materials. Our public schools are connected in. They participate in manufacturing days that showcase the jobs of the future, the jobs of today," Stevens said.

"It shows that both industry and the federal government put a stake in the ground by putting this facility here. This is a 100,000 square-foot building full of full-scale R&D equipment. We're unveiling a learning lab that's going to teach the next generation of advance manufacturing technicians and we're opening that up this fall," Joe Steele of LIFT said.